1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to means for supporting parts in plating and etching solutions and, more particularly, to a novel workstation support for electroplating and etching processes, in which support the conductive core thereof is protected against corrosion. The support is readily reparable.
2. Background Art
Electroplated coatings are well known and commonly have the purpose of improving appearance, corrosion resistance, hardness, bearing qualities, or other properties of the base metal or other material on which the coating is produced. Typical examples are: plating of steel with copper, nickel, and chromium in the automotive field; the manufacture of silver-plated tableware; and the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
In the the various manufacturing processes, a part to be plated may be suspended in etching and plating baths in which materials are removed from or plated onto a surface of the part. It is, therefore, necessary to provide some means for holding the part suspended in the baths. Heretofore, the means by which this was accomplished was a workstation of some configuration having means to releasably secure the part in the workstation. The workstation was permanently attached to a conductive copper support which was adapted to be hung from, and in electrical contact with, a main conductive bar. To protect the workstation and the conductive support from corrosion and from being etched and/or plated, the support and the one or more workstations attached thereto were coated with a protective plastic material.
While the conventional plating workstation support has been somewhat satisfactory, it has several substantial disadvantages. A major disadvantage is that conventional work station supports have limited lives, since once the protective plastic coating becomes dry and brittle, cracks form therein through which the plating and/or etching solutions can migrate, and, therefore, the copper conductive support and the workstations are rapidly corroded. Also, such cracks tend to trap solutions and drag incompatible solutions from one plating tank to another. This may decrease the effectiveness of the solutions in subsequent tanks and may increase the cost of waste treatment operations, since treating mixed waste streams is usually more expensive than treating waste streams containing only one impurity or one class of impurities.
A further, and related, disadvantage is that with many workstations on one plating line, the operator thereof is hesitant to promptly replace or repair the entire equipment and, therefore, the problem becomes aggravated.
Additionally, the conventional methods of "repair" of such a support and the workstations have been to either burn the plastic coating from the metallic materials or to strip the plastic by dissolving it in methylene chloride. Neither of these methods will continue to be viable, since each results in environmental problems: the first due to airborne smoke and combustion products, the second due to a health hazard presented by the solvent.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a work station support that has a long life.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a workstation support to which workstations may be removably attached for convenient replacement thereof.
it is a further object of the invention to produce such a workstation support that is easily and economically constructed.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.